WalkLang Release Notes

Unreleased

No unreleased changes.

v6.4.0 - PicoNet Runtime Issue Fixes

Date: 2026-06-09

v6.4.0 resolves the open PicoNet-driven GitHub issues around struct arrays, module-local tests, scalable text output, and actionable native runtime failures.

Added

• Experimental array.push support for arrays of user-defined structs, including indexed field access and exported module functions returning struct arrays.
• Module-local test: blocks are now allowed in imported modules; importers type-check them but do not run them, while walk test module.walk runs them directly.
• Stable string.join(array[string], string) -> string for one-pass assembly of text fragments.
• Draft file.write_chunks, file.try_write_chunks, file.append_chunks, and file.try_append_chunks for chunked UTF-8 text output without building one aggregate string.
• examples/large_text_stream.walk, a 20 MiB chunked-output proof example.

Fixed

• walk run and walk test now report native child exit statuses and POSIX signal names in W5004/W5005 instead of only program failed or tests failed.

v6.3.3 - TinyChain Terminal Showcase

Date: 2026-05-31

v6.3.3 makes TinyChain a better public example by turning its plain output into a terminal-friendly mining transcript with color, proof reports, and a tamper audit.

Added

• TinyChain now prints a structured ASCII transcript with block cards, proof details, chain validation, and a tamper check.
• TinyChain uses draft term.color and term.style helpers for terminal color while preserving clean redirected output.
• A tested chain.proof_report(block) helper shows the stable math.remainder proof rule in the demo output.
• TinyChain README instructions now show normal run/test/build commands and env -u NO_COLOR CLICOLOR_FORCE=1 for forced-color previews.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v6.3.2 - Stable Remainder Helper

Date: 2026-05-31

v6.3.2 promotes the TinyChain proof-loop gap into a stable standard-library helper: math.remainder(int, int) -> int.

Added

• Stable math.remainder(value, divisor) -> int for integer remainder checks.
• Compile-time diagnostics for non-int arguments.
• Runtime failure coverage for divisor zero.
• TinyChain now uses math.remainder instead of a hand-written loop.

Notes

• math.remainder is an explicit namespaced helper rather than a % operator,

matching WalkLang's preference for small, readable library APIs before adding new punctuation.

• The result follows C integer remainder semantics: division truncates toward

zero, and the remainder has the same sign as value.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v6.3.1 - TinyChain Example Project

Date: 2026-05-31

v6.3.1 adds TinyChain, a small blockchain-style WalkLang project that shows the language building a real multi-file example with tests while documenting the next useful language tools it exposes.

Added

• examples/tinychain/, a project-mode demo with walk.toml, a chain module,

a runnable main.walk, project tests, and a local README.

• A toy blockchain ledger with Transaction and Block structs, arrays of

structs, deterministic mining, chain validation, and tamper-detection tests.

• Documentation for gaps surfaced by the demo: real hashing, remainder,

struct-array append, multiline arrays, stable persistence, byte arrays, and command arguments.

Notes

• TinyChain is intentionally not a secure blockchain. It uses a deterministic

toy hash so the example remains small and readable as WalkLang source.

• No compiler or stable language behavior changed in this release.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v6.3.0 - Bounded String Slicing

Date: 2026-05-27

v6.3.0 adds Python-inspired bounded string extraction while keeping WalkLang's surface explicit and namespaced. The new helpers are aimed at WalkLang-native text workloads such as tokenizers, corpus preprocessing, logs, and generated text assembly.

Added

• Stable string.slice(text, start, count) -> string for byte-indexed bounded copies.
• Stable string.prefix(text, count) -> string for capped leading text samples.
• Conformance coverage for normal, empty, overlong, start-past-end, type-error, and negative-bound cases.

Notes

• The helpers use zero-based byte positions to match string.len, string.at, and string indexing.
• Negative indexes are intentionally not supported; this keeps slicing explicit instead of adding Python-style negative-index magic.
• Counts past the end return the available text, so callers do not need to pre-check length for bounded snippets.

Breaking Changes

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v6.2.0 - Native Numeric Runtime Helpers

Date: 2026-05-26

v6.2.0 adds the small numeric and CLI runtime pieces needed by WalkLang-native ML-style programs without adding an external ML library or broad serialization surface.

Added

• Stable math.exp(number) -> float.
• Stable math.log(number) -> float.
• Stable random.float(number, number) -> float, returning uniform floats in [min, max) and returning min when max < min.
• A documented Marsaglia polar recipe for normal sampling instead of a frozen first-party random.normal API.
• walk run <source.walk> -- <program args> passthrough to the compiled temporary executable.

Notes

• random.float uses the same runtime-owned process PRNG as random.int and random.choice; WalkLang still does not expose manual seeding.
• Binary numeric serialization and dense-array persistence remain future standard-platform design work.

Breaking Changes

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v6.1.0 - PicoNet String And Map Tooling

Date: 2026-05-26

v6.1.0 adds the small language and standard-library surface PicoNet needed without changing WalkLang's explicit design: stable string cleanup helpers and a draft string-array map for visible, namespaced table operations.

Added

• Stable string.lower(text), string.split(text, sep), and string.replace(text, from, to) helpers.
• Draft map[string]array[string] type syntax.
• Draft map module with map.empty, map.has, map.get, map.set, map.keys, and map.push.
• Draft map index lookup, so table['of the'] returns the key's array[string].
• Native runtime/conformance fixture coverage for draft map behavior.

Changed

• scripts/install-local.sh now replaces installed walk and walktop binaries atomically from its temp directory before verifying them.

Notes

• string.lower is ASCII-only by design for this MVP.
• Draft maps currently support only string keys and array[string] values.
• Missing map.get keys return an empty array[string].
• map.set and map.push return a new map value; assign the result back to keep the change.

Breaking Changes

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v6.0.0 - Systems Compiler Port

Date: 2026-05-26

v6.0.0 ships the completed systems compiler port. walk is now built from C++ sources, Walk programs still compile through generated C and the Walk C runtime, and the former Go reference implementation plus JavaScript docs assets are removed from the active repository.

Added

• Phase 1 systems compiler port conformance oracle under tests/conformance/, with a manifest, recorded reference outputs, generated-C snapshot oracle artifacts, and a shell runner that supports WALK_REF plus future WALK_CANDIDATE comparison.
• Phase 2 runtime extraction with runtime/walk_runtime.h, runtime/walk_runtime.c, host platform C files, and direct C runtime tests for allocation, strings, arrays, process, files, terminal helpers, and runtime errors.
• Phase 3 C++ compiler skeleton under compiler/, with make walk, make test, C++ command dispatch, version/help behavior, deterministic diagnostics, source loading support, and a C++ unit-test harness.
• Phase 4 C++ frontend pieces under compiler/lex/, compiler/parse/, and compiler/ast/, with tokenization, indentation handling, AST arena ownership, parser diagnostics, and walk-cpp check --parse-only.
• Phase 5 C++ semantic checker under compiler/sema/, with type checking, scope/name resolution, module/export resolution, built-in signatures, warning handling, and normal walk-cpp check.
• Phase 6 C++ backend pieces under compiler/ir/ and compiler/codegen/c/, with typed IR lowering, deterministic C emission, runtime-backed native builds, and C++ candidate emit-c, build, run, and test.
• Phase 7 C++ project and package workflow pieces under compiler/project/ and compiler/package/, with walk.toml parsing, project init/fmt/clean/check/build/test, local package init/resolve/publish, walk.lock, package cache verification, and preserved package checksums.
• Phase 8 runtime-module conformance fixtures under tests/runtime_modules/, covering draft io, parse, process, file, dir, path, json, term, http, and html through native C runtime execution.
• Phase 9 C++ tooling pieces under compiler/format/, compiler/docs/, compiler/debug_map/, compiler/lsp/, and compiler/repl/, with C++ tests for formatter, docs/site generation, LSP, and REPL behavior.
• Phase 10 standard-platform parity proof for walktop, covering C++ check/test/build, deterministic fixture mode, live OS-command mode, local install, and release artifact generation.
• Phase 11 C++/C compiler promotion, with make walk producing the repo-local build/walk binary from C++ sources.

Changed

• scripts/stress-compatibility.sh now verifies the recorded conformance oracle before running the older compatibility stress checks.
• Generated C now includes walk_runtime.h and calls the stable walk_rt_* runtime ABI instead of embedding helper bodies in every output file.
• Native builds now link emitted C with the Walk runtime and platform source files, and release artifacts include a runtime source archive for installed compilers.
• During staged porting, scripts/install-local.sh and scripts/release.sh built a current-host walk-cpp candidate artifact beside the Go reference walk.
• tests/conformance/run.sh now supports --parse to compare reference compiler syntax accept/reject behavior with the C++ parse-only candidate.
• tests/conformance/run.sh now supports --check and --fail-diagnostics to compare C++ semantic check behavior and exact fail diagnostics against the reference oracle.
• tests/conformance/run.sh now supports --emit-c and --native to compare generated C snapshots and native behavior between the reference compiler and walk-cpp.
• tests/conformance/run.sh now supports --project and --package to prove project lifecycle and package lock/cache behavior against the reference compiler and walk-cpp.
• tests/conformance/run.sh now supports --runtime-modules to prove draft runtime module parity against the reference compiler and walk-cpp.
• tests/conformance/run.sh now supports --tooling to prove formatter, docs, debug-map, LSP, and REPL behavior against the reference compiler and walk-cpp.
• scripts/stress-compatibility.sh now keeps backend compatibility checks active for staged walk-cpp candidates while skipping later-phase formatter/project lifecycle checks only when the candidate advertises those commands as not ported.
• scripts/install-local.sh and scripts/release.sh now build walktop through the C++/C walk compiler by default while preserving WALK_BUILD_BIN and WALK_RELEASE_BUILD_BIN overrides for diagnostics.
• scripts/build-docs-site.sh now builds and uses build/walk by default, and the old Go site generator under scripts/sitegen.go has been removed.
• scripts/install-local.sh, scripts/release.sh, CI, docs generation, and compatibility stress now run through the C++/C walk toolchain without Go.
• The docs site is now static HTML/CSS only; interactive JavaScript search has been replaced with static shortcut navigation.
• The VS Code package is syntax-only so the repository no longer carries a JavaScript extension runtime.

Removed

• The Go reference implementation under cmd/ and internal/, Go module metadata, and remaining Go test source.
• JavaScript source files from the docs/site surface and editor package.

v5.14.1 - Systems Compiler Port Contract

Date: 2026-05-26

v5.14.1 publishes the accepted systems compiler port contract for moving WalkLang to a permanent C++ compiler core, C runtime, C backend, and optional assembly architecture.

Added

• docs/SYSTEMS_COMPILER_PORT_PLAN.md, the execution contract for the port.
• Generated docs-site navigation for the systems compiler port plan.
• Phase-by-phase prompts, status gates, verification commands, feature

preservation requirements, and final no-Go/no-JavaScript language-accounting gates.

Changed

• Current-facing docs now identify v5.14.1 as the current project version.
• CI release artifact naming now targets v5.14.1.

Notes

• This release does not replace the current reference compiler. It publishes the

port contract and keeps the current WalkLang feature surface intact.

• The next implementation step is Phase 1 in

docs/SYSTEMS_COMPILER_PORT_PLAN.md: the conformance oracle.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v5.14.0 - CLI Standard Platform And walktop

Date: 2026-05-26

v5.14.0 ships the first CLI standard-platform slice with walktop, an official standalone WalkLang-built system monitor.

Added

• tools/walktop/, a real WalkLang project with src/main.walk, src/walktop.walk, tests, fixture data, and local README.
• walktop --once, walktop --frames 5, and walktop --fixture tools/walktop/testdata/basic.
• Deterministic fixture-mode parsing and rendering tests for dashboard output, argument validation, stable bars, and warning rows.
• End-to-end native build/run coverage proving walktop --once --fixture ... through the public compiler path.

Changed

• scripts/install-local.sh now builds and installs walktop beside walk from WalkLang source.
• scripts/release.sh now emits the existing cross-platform walk artifacts plus one current-host walktop artifact and checksums it.
• Install and standard-platform docs now describe the shipped walktop slice.

Notes

• walktop stays CLI-only. It uses terminal color/style/clear APIs but does not add a keyboard/event-loop TUI framework.
• Live mode gathers local machine data through OS commands first; fixture mode keeps tests deterministic.
• No new terminal primitive was needed for this slice.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v5.13.1 - Single Version And Developer Path Cleanup

Date: 2026-05-26

v5.13.1 aligns the current-facing project version around one number and removes old milestone labels from developer-facing paths that appear during normal CI, docs, examples, script, fixture, and test work.

Changed

• Current-facing README, docs index, status, compatibility, spec, roadmap, and

generated docs wording now describe one Project Version instead of separate language/compiler/stable-version lines.

• Active docs source pages and generated docs routes use purpose-based names

such as STABLE_FEATURES, TOOLING, and RUNTIME_BACKEND instead of milestone page names.

• Active example and compatibility fixture paths use purpose-based names:

examples/stable.walk, examples/compiler_tests.walk, examples/compiler_tracer.walk, and tests/compat/stable/.

• The compatibility stress script is now scripts/stress-compatibility.sh, and

CI uses the renamed script plus v5.13.1 release artifacts.

• Generated API reference examples now use non-versioned Since: current

metadata, keeping old version numbers out of current-facing generated docs.

Notes

• Historical release notes and migration history intentionally keep their old

version references.

• This release changes docs, generated docs, examples, CI, scripts, and fixture

paths. It does not change the language grammar or runtime behavior.

Breaking Changes

• Developer workflows that call scripts/stress-v1.sh, read examples/v1.walk,

or reference tests/compat/v1/ need to update to the purpose-based path names listed above.

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v5.13.0 - Explicit Systems Track

Date: 2026-05-25

v5.13.0 implements the explicit-systems release slice while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9. The new language behavior is draft unless promoted by a later compatibility decision.

Added

• Draft defer: scope cleanup for explicit effect cleanup at lexical block

exit. Deferred cleanups run in last-in, first-out order, run before early return:, and loop-body defers run once per iteration.

• Recoverable-result documentation policy that keeps ordinary failures as

explicit data through concrete result structs with ok, value, and error fields.

• Package collection-root docs and enforcement. std is reserved for a future

first-party root, and package publishing rejects names reserved for current or future built-in roots.

• First-class build modes for walk build and walk run: --mode debug,

--mode release, --debug, and --release.

• Project config support for [build].mode = "debug" or "release", with

[build].release retained as a compatibility field.

Notes

• --release remains a supported alias for --mode release.
• Debug mode is the default and passes -g -O0 to the native compiler.
• Release mode continues to pass -O3 -DNDEBUG; user --cflag values still

append after mode flags.

• When [build].mode and [build].release both appear, mode wins and a

warning is emitted.

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v5.12.3 - Sidebar Navigation Cleanup

Date: 2026-05-24

v5.12.3 cleans up the generated docs sidebar so the public navigation is organized by reader task and document role instead of exposed release milestones. The stable language contract remains v1.9 and the draft runtime API surface is unchanged from v5.12.0.

Improved

• Sidebar links now use topic labels such as Syntax, Specification,

Standard Library, API Reference, Architecture, and Purpose instead of version-heavy page titles.

• The primary sidebar groups now follow the documentation roles: Start,

Language, Reference, Tools, Project, and Releases.

• Historical V1, V2, and V3 milestone pages remain generated and

linkable, but they no longer appear as top-level sidebar entries.

• Release notes now appear in the sidebar as Version History.

Notes

• Page titles, generated pages, search metadata, and release history remain

intact. This release changes navigation presentation, not language behavior.

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.

Breaking Changes

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v5.12.2 - Search Result Previews

Date: 2026-05-24

v5.12.2 improves the generated docs search result cards while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9 and the draft runtime API surface unchanged from v5.12.0.

Improved

• Generated search index entries are now section-level records with parent doc

context, group labels, section anchors, readable summaries, and full cleaned search text.

• Search result cards now show a section title, parent doc/group context, and a

prose preview instead of a raw sliced Markdown snippet.

• Ranking now boosts section headings, section summaries, and API-shaped

matches such as array.push, so targeted searches land on the most useful docs section first.

• Markdown link targets are stripped from search previews so list summaries keep

human labels without leaking file names.

Notes

• Search remains static and local to the generated docs site.
• The stable language contract remains v1.9.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v5.12.1 - Docs Search

Date: 2026-05-24

v5.12.1 adds a small generated docs search experience while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9 and the draft runtime API surface unchanged from v5.12.0.

Added

• Sidebar docs search box on every generated static docs page.
• Generated docs/search.json index containing page titles, URLs, and compact

source text from the docs Markdown files.

• Small client-side search script that ranks title and body matches and links

directly to matching docs pages.

• Site-generator tests covering the search script link and searchable index

contents.

Notes

• Search is intentionally static and local to the generated site. It does not

use a hosted search service or require a backend.

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.

Breaking Changes

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v5.12.0 - Draft Network And Rich Runtime IO

Date: 2026-05-23

v5.12.0 completes IO_PLAN.md Roadmap Phase 5 as draft compiler APIs and design docs while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9.

Added

• Draft http.get, http.post, and http.request helpers.
• Draft HttpResult for recoverable HTTP status, body, and error data.
• Draft html.escape, html.h1, html.p, and html.button text helpers.
• Networking security, timeout, response-size, TLS/backend, and no-public-network

test policy in docs/NETWORKING.md.

• Rich runtime design boundaries for HTML helpers, web servers, native graphics,

WASM/browser backend, and compiler explorer/playground integration in docs/RICH_RUNTIMES.md.

• Native local-loopback HTTP tests and HTML escaping tests for the draft Phase 5

surface.

Notes

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.
• Draft HTTP delegates to the system curl executable at runtime instead of

linking a C TLS library into generated output.

• Draft HTTP does not invoke a shell, follows redirects, uses a 10 second

timeout, caps response bodies at 1 MiB, and treats response bodies as UTF-8 text.

• HTTP status codes 200 through 399 set ok true; other status codes

preserve the body and return ok false with error 'http status'.

• html helpers generate escaped strings only; they do not start a web server,

run a browser, attach assets, or own a DOM.

Breaking Changes

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v5.11.0 - Draft Terminal UX IO

Date: 2026-05-23

v5.11.0 completes IO_PLAN.md Roadmap Phase 4 as draft compiler APIs while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9.

Added

• Draft term.is_tty, term.color, term.background, term.style,

term.reset, term.clear, term.move, term.width, term.height, and term.read_key helpers.

• ANSI styling policy for TTY output, NO_COLOR, and explicit

CLICOLOR_FORCE testing.

• Deterministic terminal width and height fallbacks through COLUMNS, LINES,

80, and 24.

• Recoverable non-interactive term.read_key behavior through IOReadResult.
• Native runtime tests for clean redirected output, forced ANSI output,

dimensions fallback, non-interactive key reads, invalid terminal names, and invalid-use diagnostics.

Notes

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.
• Terminal styling is opt-in and resettable through explicit do: effect calls.
• Redirected stdout remains clean by default because styling, movement, clear,

and reset calls no-op when stdout is not a TTY.

• term.read_key uses raw terminal mode only for a single key read and restores

the terminal before returning.

• HTTP, browser targets, graphics, and rich runtimes remain gated by later

IO_PLAN.md roadmap phases.

Breaking Changes

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v5.10.0 - Draft Process And Data Interop IO

Date: 2026-05-23

v5.10.0 completes IO_PLAN.md Roadmap Phase 3 as draft compiler APIs while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9.

Added

• Draft process.run, process.output, and process.run_shell helpers.
• Draft ProcessResult and ProcessOutputResult structs for command status, stdout, stderr, and error data.
• Draft json.parse, json.stringify, json.read, and json.write helpers.
• Draft JsonResult for recoverable JSON parse/read failures.
• Native helper-command tests for argv-style process execution, stdout/stderr capture, non-zero status as data, and explicit shell execution.
• Native JSON tests for string escaping, compact validation, invalid JSON as data, and file-backed JSON read/write behavior.

Notes

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.
• process.run is argv-style and does not invoke a shell.
• process.run_shell is intentionally explicit and shell-dependent; prefer process.run when arguments are known.
• Draft JSON APIs use compact validated JSON text as the interchange value until WalkLang has maps, dynamic values, or recursive generic JSON structs.
• Terminal raw mode, HTTP, and browser targets remain gated by later IO_PLAN.md roadmap phases.

Breaking Changes

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v5.9.0 - Draft Local Filesystem IO Completion

Date: 2026-05-23

v5.9.0 completes IO_PLAN.md Roadmap Phase 2 as draft compiler APIs while keeping the stable language contract at v1.9.

Added

• Draft file.append, file.try_read, file.try_write, and file.try_append helpers.
• Draft FileReadResult and FileActionResult structs for recoverable file operations.
• Draft dir.list, dir.make, and dir.delete helpers.
• Draft path.join, path.base, and path.ext helpers.
• Draft process.chdir effect helper.
• Native temp-directory tests covering append, directory creation/list/delete, path building, cwd mutation isolation, recoverable file results, and invalid-use diagnostics.

Notes

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.
• Fail-stop file, directory, and cwd helpers still use clear walk runtime error messages for unrecoverable draft behavior.
• Recoverable file.try_* helpers report ordinary file/path/write/read failures as result structs; allocation failure still runtime-stops.
• JSON, process spawning, terminal raw mode, HTTP, and browser targets remain gated by later IO_PLAN.md roadmap phases.

Breaking Changes

None.

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v5.8.0 - Draft Local File Text IO

Date: 2026-05-23

v5.8.0 starts the local filesystem roadmap phase with draft UTF-8 text file helpers.

Added

• Draft file.read, file.write, and file.exists helpers.
• Native temp-directory tests for read/write/existence behavior.
• Native negative tests for missing files and invalid UTF-8 reads.
• Phase 2 IO plan decisions for path handling, UTF-8 text policy, fail-stop file errors, temp-directory tests, and deferred cwd mutation.

Notes

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.
• Draft file paths are passed to the host OS without normalization or ~ expansion. Relative paths resolve against the native process current working directory.
• Draft file.read and file.write are fail-stop APIs for now. Recoverable file result structs remain future Phase 2 work.
• file.append, directory/path helpers, process.chdir, JSON, process spawning, terminal raw mode, HTTP, and browser targets remain gated by IO_PLAN.md.

Breaking Changes

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v5.7.0 - Draft Recoverable Text IO

Date: 2026-05-23

v5.7.0 adds the next draft IO slice: recoverable stdin reads and parse helpers that return explicit result structs instead of nullable-only values.

Added

• Draft IOReadResult, ParseIntResult, ParseFloatResult, and ParseBoolResult structs with ok, value, and error fields.
• Draft io.read_line() and io.read_all() for runtime-owned stdin text.
• Draft parse.int, parse.float, and parse.bool helpers.
• Native runtime tests for stdin, EOF-as-data, successful parse results, and invalid parse input.
• Checker diagnostics for invalid draft io.read_line and parse.int calls.

Notes

• The stable language contract remains v1.9.
• Draft parse helpers parse the whole input string and return invalid input as data.
• File IO, JSON, process spawning, terminal raw mode, HTTP, and browser targets remain gated by IO_PLAN.md.

Breaking Changes

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v5.6.0 - Draft IO Foundation

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.6.0 adds the first draft IO/process foundation without promoting it into the stable v1.9 language contract.

Added

• Draft do: effect statements for explicit side-effect module calls.
• Draft io.write, io.write_line, and io.error_line.
• Draft process.args, process.arg_count, process.env, process.cwd, and process.exit.
• A small built-in API registry for new IO/process functions, including effect and draft metadata.
• Conformance, fail-fixture, formatter, and native runtime tests for the draft IO/process surface.

Notes

• io and process are importable draft modules in the current compiler.
• Runtime-created strings from the draft process helpers live for the native process lifetime.
• Broader IO remains gated on recoverable error and data-model decisions.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.6.0 dist

v5.5.0 - String Interpolation

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.5.0 adds the v1.9 stable string interpolation syntax for simple display text.

Added

• Single-quoted strings may include {expression} interpolation.
• Interpolation formats int, float, bool, string, and nullable string values.
• Doubled braces such as {{word}} output literal braces.
• Compatibility and conformance fixtures now cover interpolation output and unsupported interpolation values.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.5.0 dist

v5.4.1 - Random Seed Fix

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.4.1 fixes the v1.8 random runtime so fresh native process launches do not start from the same default C rand() state.

Fixed

• random.choice(items) now uses the same runtime-owned seeded PRNG as random.int, preventing the first choice from repeating across fresh command invocations just because the process was restarted.
• Added a regression test that compiles one random.choice program and executes the native binary repeatedly as fresh processes.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.4.1 dist

v5.4.0 - Terminal Game Helpers

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.4.0 adds the v1.8 stable helpers needed for simple terminal games such as Hangman while keeping the existing expression, module, and C-backend model.

Added

• string.at(text, index) and string indexing such as word[0], both returning one-character strings.
• string.contains(text, piece) for substring checks.
• string.concat(left, right) for explicit string building without changing numeric +.
• array.contains(items, item) for stable native arrays.
• array.push(items, item), which returns a new array with the item appended.
• Empty array literals when an explicit array annotation provides the element type, such as var: guessed array[string] = [].
• random.choice(items) for non-empty stable native arrays.
• A compiling playground/hangman.walk example.

Changed

• README and docs front-door wording now separate the stable v1.8 language contract from the current v5.4.0 compiler/tooling/docs release.
• The v1 stress path now covers the terminal-game helpers.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.4.0 dist

v5.3.0 - Stable Required-Line Input

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.3.0 adds the v1.7 stable in: expression for required-line stdin input.

Added

• in: as a core expression that reads one required line from stdin and returns string.
• Optional in: prompts, such as var: name = in: 'Name? ', written to stdout without a newline and flushed before reading.
• Runtime input handling for empty lines, CRLF line endings, final unterminated lines, immediate EOF, stdin read failure, and allocation failure.
• Compatibility coverage for the stable v1 input surface.

Changed

• README and docs front-door wording now separate the stable v1.7 language contract from the current v5.3.0 compiler/tooling/docs release.
• The stable syntax/spec docs now describe in: as a compatible v1.x improvement.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.3.0 dist

v5.2.0 - Local Function Type Inference

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.2.0 adds the v1.6 local function type inference rule: obvious helper functions can omit parameter and return types, while ambiguous functions ask for annotations instead of guessing from call sites.

Added

• Local function parameter and return type inference for function bodies such as func: power_four(n).
• Clear diagnostics for ambiguous omitted parameter types, such as cannot infer type for parameter value in function identity; add an annotation.
• walk run <source.walk> compiles a single file to a temporary native executable, runs it, streams program input and output, and cleans up the temporary build directory.
• walk <source.walk> is a direct shorthand for walk run <source.walk>.

Changed

• README and docs front-door wording now separate the stable v1.6 language contract from the current v5.2.0 compiler/tooling/docs release.
• README now includes a small WalkLang code example and a concise "What works today" section for public readers.
• The stable syntax/spec docs now describe local function inference as a compatible v1.x improvement.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.2.0 dist

v5.1.0 - Public Docs And Reference Site

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.1.0 turns the docs and generated reference output into a repo-owned static site for walklang.wlkrlabs.com/docs.

Added

• scripts/build-docs-site.sh for rebuilding generated reference docs and the

static site.

• scripts/check-docs-site.sh for stale generated-artifact and static-link

checks.

• Generated docs/reference/api.md and docs/reference/api.json from

structured comments in real WalkLang source.

• Static site output in public/, including the docs front door, rendered docs

pages, API reference HTML, raw Markdown, JSON, assets, .nojekyll, and CNAME.

• GitHub Pages workflow that builds public/ and deploys it from main.
• docs/V5_1.md describing the public docs and reference-site contract.

Changed

• walk docs now renders repository-relative source paths when sources are

under the current working directory, which keeps public reference output from exposing local absolute paths.

• CI now runs the docs-site check and labels release artifacts as v5.1.0.
• README and docs front doors now point at the hosted docs path as the public

docs surface.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate docs and release artifacts with:

scripts/build-docs-site.sh
scripts/check-docs-site.sh
scripts/release.sh v5.1.0 dist

v5.0.0 - Runtime and Backend Maturity

Date: 2026-05-22

v5.0.0 keeps C as the primary backend and makes generated output easier to inspect, optimize, and reason about at runtime.

Added

• docs/V5.md runtime/backend contract documentation.
• A small generated C runtime section with WalkLang scalar aliases, array structs, print helpers, string length helper, random helper, and array allocation helper.
• Source-location comments in emitted C statements, such as /* source: main.walk:6:1 */.
• Focused v5 conformance coverage for generated-C runtime helpers, source comments, and array returns.

Changed

• walk build --release now uses -O3 -DNDEBUG for native C builds.
• Array literals now allocate item storage through the generated runtime helper instead of pointing array structs at stack-local item buffers.
• Generated C snapshots now cover the v5 runtime section and source comments.
• Official install and CI release artifact labels now target v5.0.0.

Runtime And Memory

WalkLang source still has no malloc, free, pointer syntax, or public garbage collector promise. Array literal item storage is owned by the generated program for the process lifetime, which makes returned arrays predictable without adding source-level ownership syntax.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Regenerate emitted C and release binaries with the v5 compiler:

walk build main.walk -o build/main --release
scripts/release.sh v5.0.0 dist

v4.1.0 - Documentation Generator Hardening

Date: 2026-05-22

v4.1.0 keeps v5 focused on runtime/backend maturity while tightening the v4 docs generator into a small structured-doc slice.

Added

• /// structured comments above public WalkLang symbols.
• walk docs --format json for machine-readable docs index output.
• walk docs --strict for failing when generated public symbols are missing required docs fields.
• Structured docs for the v1 example module.
• Roadmap clarification that broad docs overhaul work waits until v5 runtime behavior is stable.

Changed

• walk docs now renders Markdown from the same symbol index used for JSON output.
• The default walk docs path remains compatible with signature-only sources.

Breaking Changes

None.

Upgrade

Use the default Markdown path as before, or opt into strict generated reference docs:

walk docs -o docs/api.md src/main.walk
walk docs --strict --format json -o docs/api.json src/main.walk

v4.0.0 - Professional Tooling

Date: 2026-05-22

v4.0.0 adds first-party editor and project tooling on top of the stable project/package workflow.

Added

• walk lsp stdio language server.
• LSP document diagnostics, formatter integration, hover, go-to-definition, find references, completion, and rename.
• VS Code extension scaffold in editors/vscode/ with syntax highlighting and LSP startup.
• Neovim filetype, syntax, formatter, and LSP setup files in editors/neovim/.
• walk docs Markdown API documentation generator.
• walk debug-map JSON source symbol map as debugger-adapter groundwork.
• v4 tooling documentation in docs/V4.md.
• Focused v4 tests for diagnostics, formatting, completion, navigation, rename, docs, and debug maps.

Changed

• Module metadata now records resolved source paths so editor navigation can jump from imports and calls to module files.
• README current-surface docs now include the v4 professional tooling commands.

Breaking Changes

None.

Removed

None.

Experimental Or Draft

The v4 editor layer is intentionally local-first. The following remain future roadmap items:

JetBrains plugin implementation
step-through debugger adapter
generated C source maps
remote package registry integration

Upgrade

Install or build the v4 walk binary, then point editor integrations at it:

walk lsp
walk docs -o docs/api.md
walk debug-map -o build/debug-map.json

v3.0.0 - Package Ecosystem

Date: 2026-05-22

v3.0.0 adds a local, file-backed package ecosystem on top of project mode.

Added

• walk package init <name> for package project scaffolding.
• [dependencies] in walk.toml with exact MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH pins.
• walk package resolve <registry-dir> for copying pinned dependencies into .walk/packages/.
• walk.lock with package names, versions, and checksums.
• Package cache verification before project walk check, walk test, and walk build.
• Dotted package imports such as imp: geometry.core.
• walk package publish <registry-dir> for local registry publishing.
• Publish-time README.md, check, and test gates.
• v3 package documentation in docs/V3.md and docs/PROJECTS.md.
• End-to-end v3 package lifecycle tests.

Changed

• Module loading can resolve dotted module paths such as geometry/core.walk.
• Qualified call checking now treats the final dotted segment as the exported function and the preceding path as the imported module.

Breaking Changes

None.

Removed

None.

Experimental Or Draft

The v3 package ecosystem is local-registry based. The following remain future roadmap items:

remote public package registry
registry authentication
version range solving
multiple package versions in one build
automatic package download during build

Upgrade

For project dependencies, pin exact versions and resolve before checking or building:

walk package resolve <registry-dir>
walk check --warnings=error
walk test --warnings=error
walk build

v2.2.0 - Simple Generic Composition

Date: 2026-05-22

v2.2.0 adds experimental simple generic functions as the next composition step after structs and methods.

Added

• Generic function declarations with type parameters, such as func: first[T](items array[T]) T.
• Call-site type inference for generic functions.
• Generic functions over scalar values, arrays, structs, and method-returning struct expressions.
• Exported user-module generic functions.
• Predictable C monomorphization for concrete generic calls.
• v2.2 generic pass/fail fixtures and formatter coverage.
• docs/V2.md generic function documentation.

Changed

• exp: may now export generic functions from user modules.
• Formatter output keeps generic and array type brackets tight, such as array[T].

Breaking Changes

None.

Removed

None.

Experimental Or Draft

Structs, methods, and generic functions remain experimental in v2.2. The following remain future roadmap items:

traits
interfaces
generic structs
generic methods
explicit type-argument calls
named-field constructors
file/json/matrix APIs

Upgrade

Run:

walk check --warnings=error <your entry file>
walk test <your tests file>
walk build <your entry file> -o build/app

v2.1.0 - Methods

Date: 2026-05-22

v2.1.0 adds experimental methods on top of the v2 struct surface. Methods are receiver functions, not class-based OOP.

Added

• Method declarations with receiver syntax, such as func: User.is_adult(self User) bool.
• Method calls on struct values, such as user.is_adult().
• Receiver-type namespacing so different structs may use the same method name.
• Type checking for method receivers and ordinary method arguments.
• Generated C lowering that keeps method calls explainable as receiver functions, such as User__is_adult(user).
• v2.1 method pass/fail fixtures and formatter coverage.
• docs/V2.md method documentation.

Changed

• Dotted calls now preserve receiver expressions so struct method calls can be distinguished from imported module calls.

Breaking Changes

None.

Removed

None.

Experimental Or Draft

Structs and methods remain experimental in v2.1. The following remain future roadmap items:

traits
interfaces
generic structs
named-field constructors
file/json/matrix APIs

Upgrade

Run:

walk check --warnings=error <your entry file>
walk test <your tests file>
walk build <your entry file> -o build/app

v2.0.0 - Data Modeling

Date: 2026-05-22

v2.0.0 adds experimental struct-based data modeling. The v1 compatibility contract remains documented separately in docs/SPEC.md and docs/COMPATIBILITY.md.

Added

• struct: declarations with fixed typed fields.
• Positional struct constructors.
• Dot field reads and mutable field assignment.
• Structs as function parameters and return values.
• Arrays of structs, indexed field access, and mutable array-element fields.
• Module-declared structs returned by exported module functions.
• v2 struct pass/fail fixtures and formatter coverage.
• docs/V2.md for the experimental v2 data-modeling surface.

Changed

• User modules may now contain struct: declarations at top level.
• struct is now a reserved word.
• Generated C includes typedefs for WalkLang structs and arrays of structs.

Breaking Changes

• struct can no longer be used as a variable, function, field, or expression name.

Removed

None.

Experimental Or Draft

Structs are implemented but remain experimental in v2.0. The following remain future roadmap items:

methods
traits
interfaces
generic structs
named-field constructors
file/json/matrix APIs

Upgrade

Run:

walk check --warnings=error <your entry file>
walk test <your tests file>
walk build <your entry file> -o build/app

Rename any user-defined binding named struct.

v1.5.0 - Compatibility Release Preparation

Date: 2026-05-22

v1.5 prepares WalkLang for a stable v1.x line. It does not intentionally change the v1 language syntax or stable standard-library behavior.

Added

• Versioned v1 compatibility policy in docs/COMPATIBILITY.md.
• Official install instructions in docs/INSTALL.md.
• Migration guide in docs/MIGRATING.md.
• Deprecation policy in docs/DEPRECATION.md.
• v1 compatibility fixtures under tests/compat/v1/.
• TestV15CompatibilitySuite... tests that compile/run stable v1 programs and check representative stable diagnostics.

Changed

• README.md and docs/V1.md now describe the current surface as v1.5.
• CI release artifact generation now uses v1.5.0.
• scripts/stress-v1.sh reports the v1.5 stress path.

Breaking Changes

None.

Removed

None.

Experimental Or Draft

The following remain outside the v1.5 compatibility promise:

file/json/matrix APIs
structs
methods
traits
interfaces
closures
package manager behavior
debugger and full LSP behavior

Upgrade

Install or build the v1.5 CLI, then run:

walk check --warnings=error <your entry file>
walk test <your tests file>

Project users should also run:

walk check --warnings=error
walk test
walk build